6 pending free agents 49ers shouldn’t bother re-signing

No. 5: 49ers Running Back Jerick McKinnon

Well, if you don’t want to be here, you don’t have to be.

That essentially describes running back Jerick McKinnon, who made it awfully clear during an Instagram Live appearance with wide receiver Deebo Samuel that he wasn’t going to come back in 2021.

Then McKinnon doubled down on his comments with Samuel about a would-be reunion:

Granted, McKinnon’s tenure with the Niners never went as planned. After signing a four-year, $30 million contract as a free agent in 2018, the former Minnesota Viking subsequently suffered an ACL tear just before the regular season that year, and the injury forced him to miss all of 2019, too.

San Francisco subsequently reworked his deal, making him a free agent in 2021.

Despite regularly finding the end zone early last season, McKinnon’s use dropped over the course of the year, and he found himself relegated to a second- or third-string back en route to 319 rush yards and six total touchdowns.

But if McKinnon has zero interest in returning, there’d be no reason why the 49ers should even entertain the thought of trying to keep him.